We are ensconced now in NW WA, at My Big Brother’s (MBB) house.
Since my ‘Loretta Lynn’ story went over so well. I thought I’d post this one…
The day I met John Paul II
I get my chops busted for saying I met the Pope…
OK, so I didn’t shake his hand and say “How the hell are ya your Pontiff?”
We arrived a little late that day to the Pentagon. The CINC and I made the 40 mile commute up I95 everyday. It could take an hour, or three…
I missed roll call so I didn’t hear who the big wig was that was arriving. All I knew is I had to rush down to the 4th corridor entrance, ‘The Heliport’ for an ‘Arrival’.
When anyone semi-important arrives at the Pentagon, they get a reception. From only an undersecretary to a full blown Honor Guard with band.
Usually we did the receptions at the ‘River Entrance’. That side of the building had a nice grass lawn area, was across from LBJ Grove park, and a marina. So I was curious as to why, if this was someone important why were they coming in The Heliport entrance?
During these ceremonies I was prominent, I was in my 20s and impressive. I always stood to the front left of the honor guard. Then when entering the building, I stood with my back to the right side of the entrance as the person walked in.
It was my job to impress upon them that they were entering ‘The Pentagon’.
There wasn’t a ceremony, curious, Heliport entrance, how important could this guy be?
There were two sets of doors at the entrances, on each side of a spacious vestibule. I took up a position to the right (my left) of the open double doors.
I was partially blocking the first two or so feet of that side of the entrance.
The outside doors boomed open as a car pulled up.
The Heliport entrance (prior to 9/11) had an asphalt road parallel to the building from South Parking, almost to the doors. So if a car pulled up, there would only be 2-3 feet to the building.
There was a gaggle of people milling around the entrance. Then I saw my Capt. Opening the car door..
Whoa… I’ve never seen him at one of these things!!!
More confusion, the SecDef was also there…
What the hell did I miss?!?!
Then they began entering the building. My Captain came in and stood to the right, inside the door way (from my position).
The SecDef walked in and to his right there was a short man in all white. Immediately next to him was a man dressed in red Cardinal’s robes.
As they got closer, I realized it was the Pope, John Paul II.
Holy crap!
Excuse the expression..
As they neared the entrance where I was, it was obvious that they weren’t going to fit through the door three across (SecDef, Pope, and Cardinal).
Especially with my big ass blocking the door.
I guess the Cardinal may have been an important man. He was probably used to getting his way with a look.
He gave me the look so I would move…
Nope, the SecDef didn’t ask, ain’t going to happen.
They stopped for a second, the Pope looked at me and smiled.
I just nodded back, and they continued on.
The Cardinal was pissed!!!
I’ll post some fantastic pics from my last week soon- stay tuned!
I don’t know if I even posted this video before -I shot it a year ago. Martha was riveted to this scene from the original Prince of Egypt. But I really don’t think she appreciated the dog being thrown overboard.
I just stumbled across this - I think it was some story that referenced Valiant Pharmaceuticals- and I said well, “Stuart Varney is a big fan of one of their products…”
I remember on the first take, I was rushing at the end and the way it turned out, made me laugh, so I just kept it in.
I showed it to Stuart later and he got to kick out of it
Thank you for reminding me. I wanted to talk about our post-show hangout in Memphis and here it is:
“Seneca”
“Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are.
We've been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.”
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Seneca the younger; Letters from a Stoic
“Epictetus”
“The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows where he is going.”
— Epictetus
This is one of my favorite quotes.
I’ve always said that if you ‘walk like a Predator’, you never need be afraid. Because predators don’t attack predators.
In a bad neighborhood or bad part of town, if you walk and act like you know what you are doing, people leave you alone.
This also works in interpersonal relationships. If you are confident, people rarely question you, and you tend to go farther in life.
Even if the confidence is a ‘facade’, only you need to know that you have doubts.
“It ‘bears’ further”
Explanation…
I apologize for the quick ‘Bear’ post, but I was at Powell Ranger Station Idaho with an iffy signal.
For those of you whom were fans of the ‘Late Great Paul Harvey’;
Here is ‘The rest of the story’.
My lovely bride and I were on a 4+ hour Scoot ride through the Lolo pass of the Bitterroot mountains.
At or near the 5,233 ft summit of the pass is the Montana/Idaho border. We decided to turn around at ‘Powell’ Idaho, in 12 miles, as indicated by a mileage marker.
There is no ‘Powell Idaho’, there’s the ‘Powell Ranger station’, which has adjacent to it the ‘Powell Lodge’.
There is a lodge/Restaurant and it has surrounding log cabins. The area also has a ‘rustic’ convenience store gas station.
We stopped to stretch, I pumped fuel while @The_CINC went inside to grab a couple of cold drinks.
Once I finished fueling the Scoot, I found a shady spot to park it in, and I went inside the store.
The word ‘Store’ is a gracious description. ...
